Bees Producing Crazy Colorful Honeys: Not Good

October 5, 2012

Several colonies of French bees have been producing strange blue and green honeys since August. But the product isn’t a delicacy, it’s a mystery. The dozen honey producers who have been affected are searching for answers and now suspect a Mars-owned candy factory in Haguenau is responsible.

Bees are foragers who seek out sweetness and it’s likely they swung by the M&M plant on the regular to juice up on its colorful, sugary dregs. Producers, concerned about what kind of honey their bees might be creating with industrial waste, have not been selling the product. Meanwhile, the blue honey is being tested to determine exactly what the contaminant could be. Results will come in early next year.

The M&M scenario is believable, especially if you remember the mysterious red honey that was coming out of Red Hook a couple of years ago. Similarly, it turned out that our urban, sugar-loving bees were drawn to the maraschino cherry factory over on Dikeman Street, and came back to sully their hives with high fructose corn syrup and artificial food coloring.

The Red Hook honey was a bright, almost neon red, but was said to have an unpleasant metallic flavor.